Page 113 of If You Love Me

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Tyrion

Isat next to my wife’s hospital bed with my head down, praying for what seemed like the umpteenth time. This had been my routine for the last five days. I hadn’t been home. I hadn’t been to work. All I’d done was sit here and wait for my wife to wake up. It had been touch and go when we first got to the hospital. Evenie had coded three times behind the gunshot wound she sustained to the chest.

She’d lost a ton of blood and needed a transfusion as well. I felt like my world was falling apart at the seams. On top of this, I was dealing with my mother recovering and my daughter dealing with the trauma. Summer Rose refused to leave my side. She slept on the pull-out couch next to me. If she had to use the bathroom, she made me wait outside the door. Right now, she was curled up in bed next to her mother, holding my hand.

My heart broke for her.

She’d witnessed her grandmother get shot, she was kidnapped, and almost lost her mother all in the span of twenty-four hours. That was too much for her young psyche. I didn’thave the words to make things right or make her feel better. All I could do was hold her.

“Baby,” my mother said softly from the other bed.

When Evenie was in stable condition, I had her moved to the hospital closest to home. I’d had them house her in the same room as my mother to make it easier on us with visits. I looked back at her with bloodshot eyes.

“Yeah, Ma?”

“You two should really go home and get some proper sleep.”

I shook my head. “No. I need to be here when she wakes up. I don’t want her to be alone.”

“She won’t be alone,” my father said. “I’ll be here, and when I’m not here, her parents will be here.”

Speaking of her parents, I had the hardest time looking my in-laws in the eye right now. I felt like they blamed me for what happened, even though they never said that. It was the guilt eating me up.

“I just feel like I need to be here,” I said, looking back at my wife. I kissed her hand. “It’s the only thing I can do right now.”

They let me be. I rested my head on the bed and closed my eyes, saying another prayer. I needed a miracle right now.

The news had been flooded with highlights of the story. The police had been here several times to take statements. For a moment, I thought they were going to charge me and Evenie with Iona’s death. Luckily, there were police reports to establish a pattern of behavior leading up to this.

Mrs. Cambridge had done an interview, trying to clear herself of any backlash. She knew she was wrong for not disclosing her daughter’s mental status to me. When she learned that Iona was dead, she’d shown up at the hospital crying and pleading for forgiveness. I had nothing for her. She contributed to all of this by not doing her due diligence as Iona’s mother. Now she had to bury her child and live with that guilt.

I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I knew I’d fallen asleep. The nurse had come to take my mother to physical therapy, and my father went with her. Her parents had called and said they were on their way as well. I’d came out of my slumber when the feeling of a hand stroking my head alerted me. My eyes popped open, and I looked up to see Evenie smiling weakly at me.

“Hey, you,” she said faintly.

“Baby…”

I couldn’t say anything else because I was overcome with tears and emotions. I grabbed her hand, kissing it repeatedly as tears streamed down my face. Standing to my feet, I leaned in and cupped her face, kissing her lips.

“Stop crying,” she said, wiping my tears away.

“I thought I lost you, love.”

“It’s gonna take…” she cleared her throat. “It’s gonna take more than a bullet to get rid of me.”

She looked down at Summer, sleeping next to her. Gently, she stroked her hair. My baby stirred slightly before her eyes fluttered open. I nodded toward her mother, causing her to look back.

“Mommy!”

She scrambled to sit up and threw her arms around Evenie. Her mother winced in pain but took it like a champ to comfort our daughter as she cried on her shoulder.

“Mommy, I was so scared you were gonna die!” she wailed.

“I know, baby,” Evenie said, kissing her cheeks. She cupped her face and looked into her eyes. “I told you I would never leave you again, didn’t I?”

Summer nodded. “You did. You came back to me.”

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